Employer brand is the difference between leaders who have a vision for the full life cycle of their employees.
The Employer Brand Shop is a boutique recruitment marketing and employer brand agency located in Kitchener, Canada. Their team helps organizations around the world attract and engage talent using creative marketing strategies and strong employee value propositions (EVP).
Defined by The EBS team in the simplest of terms, an employer brand is your reputation in the market as an employer, as well as your employees’ perception of you as an employer. Ultimately, the better you are at employer branding, the more likely you are to attract and retain qualified talent.
As strong believers in the idea that everyone deserves to be proud of where they work, we couldn’t be more in agreement with The Employer Brand Shop’s theory that what sets good leaders apart is those who have the ability (and interest!) to think about their business holistically.
These leaders can see how employer brand impacts every aspect of the organization and go beyond using it as just a tool to attract external talent. Natasha Makovara, Employer Brand and Recruitment Marketing Specialist shares that leaders who engage in employer brand work have a very clear vision of what they want their organization to look like and can (more importantly) execute on that vision as well. For example, a major component of employer brand is an employee value proposition (EVP). This is the ‘what’s in it for me’ for your candidates and employees. When you have a clear, intentional EVP, you’re able to infuse that across the employee lifecycle and deliver on those promises which can help you improve your overall candidate and employee experience.
If you’ve ever been part of recruiting, you know that filling a role is no easy task. So, how does employer brand play into finding the best talent?
“First things first, do your candidate research! It’s really important that recruiters and hiring managers have a deep understanding of the market, as well as their prospective candidate’s needs, motivations, habits, etc. Building out candidate personas for each of your roles is a really great way to do this. You can then take these personas and leverage them to create targeted and intentional recruitment strategies and campaigns to attract the right talent to your organization.
It’s not enough to just post “we’re hiring” on LinkedIn. You should have specific messaging tailored toward your target audience, as well as “meeting” them on the platforms they frequently use. And because the internet today is oversaturated with ads and content today, if you want your jobs and career content to break through the noise, you need to take a multi-channel approach.
Secondly, be authentic. Candidates today are looking for transparency. They are extremely savvy and can tell when something is “corporate speak.” They want to know the good, the bad, and the ugly so that they can make an informed decision. This is also known as “give and get” employer branding — instead of flashy sales pitched aimed at “seducing” your candidates, you’re instead showcasing the strengths of your organization, while also highlighting the reality of what it takes to truly thrive at your company. “
Now, once you’ve hired a rockstar. How do you keep them?
“Compensation aside, delivering on your EVP promises is a really powerful way to keep your employees engaged. When you treat them right, they’ll in turn want to do right by you. Simple but true.“
To wrap things up, we asked Natasha about the future of human capital, and how Covid will affect the employee market.
“I think we’re going to see a really competitive market in the next few years. While Covid presented its challenges, I think it’s also helped push us into a new age of work and innovation. While attracting external talent to your organization is going to be important, I think retaining and mobilizing your existing talent is going to be even more important.
I truly believe the way we work will change. Roles will become much more fluid — we’ll see much more project-based work that’s cross-functional instead of staying in departmental silos. Organizations should be ready to start leveling up their talent base and thinking about how employee resources will need to be reallocated to shift to new projects as business needs change.“
When thinking about your talent strategy, consider this – a strong employer brand can:
- Reduce turnover
- Decrease cost-per-hire
- Increase your ability to attract more qualified talent
- Improve employee engagement
There’s a great blog about this on The Employer Brand Shop website that also includes a few statistics that can help you justify your employer brand!
To learn more about Natasha and The Employer Brand Shop Inc, visit: https://www.theemployerbrandshop.com/about